On March 5th, we held the Drift Challenge in Yamagata at Rolling Park Nakano in Tendo City, Yamagata Prefecture. As this was the first Yokomo event held there, we received over 30 entries, making it a very exciting event throughout the day.
Rolling Park Nakano has two types of drift courses, asphalt and carpet; for this event, we utilized the asphalt course.
The layout was modeled after the real-car "Bihoku Highland Circuit," creating a technical course that demanded high speed and drift angles. Amidst such a high-difficulty course, the participants showed very aggressive driving and repeatedly scored high points; it may well have been the highest-level competition in the history of the Drift Challenge to date.
The qualifying round consisted of two solo run judging sessions: the first with two runs and the second with one, for a total of three runs, with the best score determining the ranking and the top 8 drivers from each class advancing. The event was held in three classes: RWD Beginner, RWD Expert, and AWD Expert.
First was the RWD Beginner class. The level of the Beginner class was extremely high this time, with many performances rivaling those of top Expert class drivers. Among them, the driver who took the top spot in qualifying was Rolling Park Nakano shop manager, "Nakano-desu." Perhaps because he is used to the track, he showed a stable, error-free drift.
Next was the RWD Expert class qualifying. While top Tohoku drifter TakeC and others participated, the one who took the top spot was "Oniku-chan," who displayed outstanding power and sharpness. In the subsequent AWD Expert class qualifying, the scores of the 8 finalists were almost identical, making it impossible to predict who would win. Upper Suzuki ultimately took the top qualifying spot. The finals consisted of two solo runs for each class, with the ranking determined by the highest score.
Final Results
RWD Beginner Class
1st Place: Komatsuko
2nd Place: Nakano-desu
3rd Place: Takayoshi
RWD Expert Class
1st Place: Mr. S
2nd Place: Oniku-chan
3rd Place: Suga-chan
AWD Expert Class
1st Place: Upper Suzuki
2nd Place: Sendai Oyakata
3rd Place: TakeC
After the event, we held a Tsuiso (tandem drift) exhibition match for the AWD and RWD classes.
This exhibition match was open to all participants, with tournament brackets decided by lottery, designed to give everyone a chance to experience the "fun of tandem drifting."
AWD Class Winner: TakeC
RWD Class Winner: Paisen
Venue: Rolling Park NAKANO http://rolling-park.com/